Semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

It is an object of the invention to provide semiconductor devices which can protect privacy of consumers or holders of commercial products and control the communication range according to use, even when the semiconductor device which can exchange data without contact is mounted on the commercial products. A semiconductor device of the invention includes an element group including a plurality of transistors over a substrate; a first conductive film functioning as an antenna over the element group; a second conductive film surrounding the first conductive film; an insulating film covering the first and second end portions; and a third conductive film over the insulating film. The first conductive film is provided in the shape of a coil, and each end portion of the first conductive film is connected to the element group. First and second end portions of the second conductive film are not connected to each other.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device which can sendand receive data without contact, particularly to a semiconductor devicewhich can change the communication range thereof.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, individual recognition technology which clarifies suchas a history of the object by giving an ID (an individual recognitionnumber) to each object; and is useful for production and management ofthe object has received a lot of attention. For example, there is atechnology to be used for production and management, in whichinformation such as a history of the object is clarified by giving an ID(an individual recognition number) to an individual object. Above all,the development of semiconductor devices that can send and receive datawithout contact has been advanced. As such semiconductor devices, anRFID (Radio Frequency Identification) (also referred to as an ID tag, anIC tag, and IC chip, an RF (Radio Frequency) tag, a wireless tag, anelectronic tag, or a wireless chip) and the like are beginning to beintroduced into companies, markets, and the like.

Many semiconductor devices such as RFIDs that have already been put topractical use have an element group (also referred to as an IC(Integrated Circuit) chip) and a conductive film functioning as anantenna. These semiconductor devices can exchange data withreader/writer via antenna by an electromagnetic-wave.

However, in the case where these semiconductor devices (also referred toas RFID) are mounted on commercial products, a possibility of invading aconsumer's privacy is pointed out (Non-Patent Document 1, for example).For example, in the case where an RFID is embedded in a commercialproduct, there is a possibility that the location of the consumer havingthe commercial product after purchase is traced. In addition, in thecase where an RFID is embedded in a luxury item such as a brand-nameproduct, there is a possibility that information of the RFID is lookedat secretly so as to be used for a sort of discrimination of purchasingpower. Furthermore, there is a possibility that information of the RFIDis rewritten (forged) by a third party. As described above, when an RFIDis mounted on a commercial product, the longer the communication rangeis, the more convenient it is for management and supervision during thedistribution process; however, the longer the communication range is,the higher possibility there is that contents of the commercial productis grasped by a third party or the information is forged in the casewhere the product is purchased by a particular individual.

As a countermeasure for such problems, it can be considered that an RFIDis not embedded in a commercial product itself but attached to the pricetag or the wrapping paper so as to be removed after purchasing. However,in the case where the tag can be easily removed, there is a fear thatthe level of security against forgery and theft is lowered. In addition,a measure in which the RFID embedded in a commercial product isdestroyed after purchasing so that data is not read externally can beconsidered. Although this measure is effective when the commercialproduct is thrown away, information of the commercial product, includedin the RFID, cannot be used by the consumer or the producer, andinformation useful for repair or maintenance of the commercial productwill be lost.

[Non-Patent Document] Taiyo Tsuchiya, Privacy of Object, [online],2004/7, internet (URL:http://www.fri.fujitsu.com/open_knlg/review/rev083/review01.html)

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor devicewhich can protect privacy of an owner of a commercial product andcontrol the communication range according to use, even when thesemiconductor device which can exchange data without contact is mountedon the commercial product.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the invention takes thefollowing measures.

One feature of a semiconductor device of the invention is to include: anelement group including a plurality of transistors provided over asubstrate; a first conductive film functioning as an antenna providedabove the element group; and a second conductive film placed so as tosurround the first conductive film, wherein the first conductive film isprovided in the shape of a coil; the second conductive film includes afirst end portion and a second end portion, and the first end portionand the second end portion are connected via a switching means so thatthe second conductive film is provided circularly. It is to be notedthat “circularly” used in this specification means a condition where thefirst end portion and the second end portion of the conductive film areconnected directly, of course, and also a condition where the first endportion and the second end portion of the conductive film are connectedvia a substance which is electrically connectable (including a substancewhich can control on/off of the connection).

Another feature of a semiconductor device of the invention is toinclude: an element group including a plurality of transistors providedover a substrate; a first conductive film functioning as an antennaprovided above the element group; a second conductive film including afirst end portion and a second end portion, placed so as to surround thefirst conductive film; and a third conductive film provided so as tocover the first end portion and the second end portion, with aninsulating film therebetween, wherein the first conductive film isprovided in the shape of a coil and each end portion thereof isconnected to the element group; and the second conductive film includesthe first end portion and the second end portion which are placed so asto be insulated from each other.

Another feature of a semiconductor device of the invention is toinclude: an element group including a plurality of transistors providedover a substrate; a first conductive trim functioning as an antenna,provided above the element group; a second conductive film including afirst end portion and a second end portion, placed so as to surround thefirst conductive film; and a third conductive film provided so as tocover the first end portion and the second end portion, with aninsulating film therebetween, wherein the first conductive film isprovided in the shape of a coil and each end portion thereof isconnected to the element group; and the third conductive film iselectrically connected to either one of the first end portion and thesecond end portion, and the end portion not electrically connected tothe third conductive film is insulated.

Another feature of a semiconductor device of the invention is toinclude: an element group including a plurality of transistors providedover a substrate; a first conductive film functioning as an antennaprovided above the element group; and a second conductive film placed soas to surround the first conductive film, wherein the first conductivefilm is provided in the shape of a coil and each end portion thereof isconnected to the element group; and the second conductive film isprovided circularly.

Another feature of a semiconductor device of the invention is toinclude: an element group including a plurality of transistors providedover a substrate; a first conductive film functioning as an antennaprovided above the element group; and a second conductive film placed soas to surround the first conductive film, wherein the first conductivefilm is provided in the shape of a coil; and the second conductive filmincludes a first end portion and a second end portion, and is providedcircularly, with the first end portion and the second end portionconnected via a switching means.

Another feature of a semiconductor device of the invention is toinclude: an element group including a plurality of transistors providedover a substrate; a first conductive film functioning as an antennaprovided above the element group; and a second conductive film placed soas to surround the first conductive film, wherein the first conductivefilm is provided in the shape of a coil; and the second conductive filmincludes a first end portion and a second end portion, and is providedcircularly, with the first end portion and the second end portionconnected via any one of the plurality of transistors.

Another feature of a semiconductor device of the invention is toinclude: an element group including a plurality of transistors providedover a substrate; a first conductive film functioning as an antennaprovided above the element group; and a plurality of second conductivefilms placed so as to surround the first conductive film, wherein thefirst conductive film functioning as an antenna is provided in the shapeof a coil; and each of the second plurality of conductive films includesa first end portion and a second end portion, and is providedcircularly, with the first end portion and the second end portionconnected via any one of the plurality of transistors.

In the above-described structures, one feature of a semiconductor deviceof the invention is to include: a memory portion provided in an elementgroup; and the memory portion including a plurality of bit linesextended in a first direction, a plurality of word lines extended in asecond direction perpendicular to the first direction, a memory cellprovided with a memory element, and a memory cell array including aplurality of the memory cells, wherein the memory element includes anorganic compound layer provided between a conductive layer structuringthe bit line and a conductive layer structuring the word line.

A semiconductor device of the invention can control a communicationrange, so that privacy of a person who purchased a commercial productmounting the semiconductor device can be protected by controlling thecommunication range of the semiconductor device according to theindividual's use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A to 1C are diagrams each showing an example of a semiconductordevice of the invention.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are diagrams each showing an example of a semiconductordevice of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a semiconductor device of theinvention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams each showing an example of a semiconductordevice of the invention.

FIGS. 5A to 5D are diagrams each showing an example of a semiconductordevice of the invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams each showing an example of a semiconductordevice of the invention.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams each showing an example of a semiconductordevice of the invention.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are diagrams each showing an example of a manufacturingmethod of a semiconductor device of the invention.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams each showing an example of a manufacturingmethod of a semiconductor device of the invention.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams each showing an example of amanufacturing method of a semiconductor device of the invention.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams each showing an example of amanufacturing method of a semiconductor device of the invention.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are diagrams each showing an example of amanufacturing method of a semiconductor device of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a manufacturing method of asemiconductor device of the invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a semiconductor device of theinvention.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are diagrams each showing an example of asemiconductor device of the invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a semiconductor device of theinvention.

FIGS. 17A and 17B are diagrams each showing an example of asemiconductor device of the invention.

FIGS. 18A to 18C are diagrams each showing an example of a usage patternof a semiconductor device of the invention.

FIGS. 19A to 19H are diagrams each showing an example of a usage patternof a semiconductor device of the invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment modes of the invention will be described hereinafter, withreference to drawings. However, the invention is not limited to thefollowing description, and it is easily understood by those skilled inthe art that the modes and details can be changed in various wayswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore,the invention is not interpreted limited to the following description ofembodiment modes. In the structure of the invention describedhereinafter, reference numerals indicating the same things are used incommon in different drawings.

Embodiment Mode 1

In this embodiment mode, an example of a semiconductor device of theinvention will be described with reference to drawings.

A semiconductor device shown in this embodiment mode includes at leastan element group 402 provided over a substrate 401, a conductive film403 functioning as an antenna provided above the element group 402, anda conductive film 404 to be a dummy pattern placed so as to surround theconductive film 403 (FIG. 1A). The conductive film 403 functioning as anantenna is provided in the shape of a coil, and each end portion of theconductive film 403 is electrically connected to the element group 402.The conductive film 404 includes a first end portion 405 a and a secondend portion 405 b, and each of the first end portion 405 a and thesecond end portion 405 b is connected to a switching means 410, so thatthe conductive film 404 is provided circularly via the switching means410 (FIGS. 1B and 1C). It is to be noted that “circularly” used in thisspecification means a condition where the first end portion 405 a andthe second end portion 405 b of the conductive film 404 are connecteddirectly, of course, and also a condition where the first end portion405 a and the second end portion 405 b are connected via a substancewhich is electrically connectable (here, the switching means 410).

As the substrate 401, a glass substrate such as a barium borosilicateglass or an alumino borosilicate glass, a quartz substrate, a ceramicsubstrate, a metal substrate including stainless steel, or the like canbe used. In addition, a semiconductor substrate of Si or the like may beused. Besides these, a substrate formed of a synthetic resin havingflexibility such as acrylic or plastic represented by polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), a polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and apolyethersulfone (PES) can be also used. By using a flexible substrate,a bendable semiconductor device can be manufactured. Also, with suchsubstrates, an area and a shape thereof are not restricted so much;therefore, by using a rectangular substrate with at least one meter on aside as the substrate 401, for example, the productivity can bedrastically improved. This merit is greatly advantageous as compared tothe case of using a round silicon substrate.

The element group 402 includes at least a transistor, and a vast arrayof integrated circuit such as a CPU, a memory or a microprocessor can beprovided by the transistor. Specifically, the transistor included in theelement group 402 can be provided by forming a thin film transistor(TFT) over the substrate 401 formed of glass, plastic or the like, or byforming a field effect transistor (FET) using a semiconductor substrateof Si or the like as the substrate 401 and using the semiconductorsubstrate as a channel region of the transistor. In addition, it is alsopossible that an SOI substrate is used as the substrate 401 and atransistor is formed over the substrate. It is to be noted that, in thecase of using an SOI substrate, a transistor of the element group can beformed by using a method by bonding of an Si wafer or a method calledSIMOX in which an insulating layer is formed inside by implanting oxygenions in an Si substrate.

The conductive films 403 and 404 can be formed by a sputtering method, aCVD method or the like, using a conductive material including one of ora plurality of metals such as copper (Cu), alminum (Al), silver (Ag),gold (Au), chromium (Cr), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta),tungsten (W) and nickel (Ni), or metal compounds thereof. Furthermore,the conductive film can be formed by a droplet discharging method (alsoreferred to as an ink-jet method) or a printing method such as a screenprinting method, using a conductive paste. As the conductive paste,conductor particles of which the size is several nm to several ten μm,dissolved or dispersed in an organic resin can be used. As theconductive particles, metal particles of one or more of silver (Ag),gold (Au), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd),tantalum (Ta), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti) and the like, fineparticles of silver halide, or dispersible nanoparticles can be used. Inaddition, as the organic resin included in the conductive paste, one ormore selected from organic resins functioning as a binder of metalparticles, a solvent, a dispersing agent and a coating material can beused. As the representatives, organic resins such as an epoxy resin anda silicon resin can be given. When forming a conductive film, baking ispreferably performed after the paste is applied. For example, in thecase where fine particles (of which the size is 1 nm or more and 100 nmor less) containing silver as its main component are used as a materialfor the paste, a conductive film can be obtained by stiffening the pasteby baking at a temperature of 150 to 300° C. Furthermore, the conductivefilms 403 and 404 can be formed simultaneously by using theabove-described method, or formed separately.

The switching means 410 is connected to the first end portion 405 a andthe second end portion 405 b of the conductive film 404 to be a dummypattern, and has a means for switching (switching on/off) the electricalconnection between the first end portion 405 a and the second endportion 405 b. The switching means 410 can be provided with anystructure, as long as it has a means for switching the electricalconnection between the first end portion 405 a and the second endportion 405 b of the conductive film 404. In addition, the switchingmeans 410 can be provided with a structure which can switch theelectrical connection only once, or with a structure which can switchthe electrical connection a plurality of times.

The semiconductor device of this embodiment mode can control thecommunication range of the semiconductor device by switching theelectrical connection between the first end portion 405 a and the secondend portion 405 b of the conductive film 404 by using the switchingmeans 410. Hereinafter, a case of using an electromagnetic coupling typeor an electromagnetic induction type with the conductive film 403provided in the shape of a coil will be described.

Generally, in the case of using the electromagnetic coupling type or theelectromagnetic induction type, a power supply voltage is generated inthe element group 402 by using an electromagnetic wave sent fromexternal equipment (reader/writer) so that information is exchanged.Therefore, when a magnetic field is generated (a direction from top todown, in FIG. 3) in a region surrounded by the conductive film 403provided in the shape of a coil and the conductive film 404 providedcircularly (in the case where the first end portion 405 a and the secondend portion 405 b of the conductive film 404 are connected directly, orthe case where the first end portion 405 a and the second end portion405 b are electrically connected via the switching means (when theswitching means 410 is on)), a current is generated in the conductivefilms 403 and 404 so as to cancel the generated magnetic field.

For example, when an electromagnetic wave is sent from a reader/writerto a semiconductor device, the semiconductor device supplies a powersupply voltage and a signal to the element group 402 via the conductivefilm 403 functioning as an antenna. On the other hand, anelectromagnetic wave is also sent to the conductive film 404 to be adummy pattern, and a current keeps flowing in the conductive film 404while the magnetic field is changed. By this current generated in theconductive film 404, a magnetic field (a direction from bottom to top)is generated so as to cancel the electromagnetic wave sent from thereader/writer. In addition, also when an electromagnetic wave is sentfrom the semiconductor device to the reader/writer, a magnetic field isgenerated so as to cancel the electromagnetic wave, due to the existenceof the conductive film 404.

As a result, a magnetic field sent from the reader/writer or sent fromthe semiconductor device is canceled by a magnetic field generated by acurrent generated in the conductive film 404, and the communicationrange is lowered. On the contrary, in the case where the first endportion 405 a and the second end portion 405 b of the conductive film404 do not make a circle, or the case where the first end portion 405 aand the second end portion 405 b do make a circle via the switchingmeans 410 but they are not electrically connected (the switching means410 is in an off state), a current does not keep flowing in theconductive film 404 by a change in a magnetic field, therefore, thecommunication range is not lowered.

In this manner, the communication range of the semiconductor device canbe controlled by on/off of the switching means 410. As described above,the switching means can be provided with any structure as long as it hasa means for switching the electrical connection between the first endportion 405 a and the second end portion 405 b of the conductive film404, and for example, a transistor, a mechanical switch, a membraneswitch, a conductive rubber switch, an electrostatic capacity switch orthe like can be used.

A case where a transistor is used as the switching means 410 will bedescribed with reference to drawings hereinafter. As the transistor, athin film transistor (TFT) formed over a substrate made of glass,plastic or the like, a field effect transistor (FET) using asemiconductor substrate of Si or the like and using the semiconductorsubstrate as a channel region of the transistor, or the like can beused. Here, a case of using a rim film transistor will be described.

In the case of using a transistor 410 a as the switching means (FIG.2A), either one of the first end portion 405 a and the second endportion 405 b of the conductive film 404 can be provided so as to beelectrically connected to a source region of the transistor 410 a, andthe other one can be provided so as to be electrically connected to adrain region of the transistor 410 a (FIG. 2B). The transistor 410 a canbe provided in the same layer as the element group 402 (FIG. 2C). Inthis case, a transistor 409 included in the element group 402 and thetransistor 410 a functioning as a switching means can be formedsimultaneously.

When a voltage is applied to a gate electrode of the transistor 410 a(when the transistor 410 a is on), a current flows in the conductivefilm 404 connected via the source region and the drain region of thetransistor 410 a. Therefore, when an electromagnetic wave is sent fromthe reader/writer, a current flows so as to cancel the change in themagnetic field accompanying it, and the communication range can belowered.

The controlling of on/off of the transistor becomes possible by using anonvolatile memory in a memory portion. As for a means to keep applyinga voltage to the gate electrode of the transistor, it becomes possibleby connecting a capacitative element or a ferroelectric material (forexample, a perovskites compound such as PZT (lead zirconate titanate), alayered perovskites compound such as SBZ (barium titanate strontium) orthe like) to the gate electrode of the transistor. In addition, byconnecting a power source (battery) to the gate electrode of thetransistor, it is possible to keep applying a voltage to the transistor.

Besides the above-described methods, another structure in which thefirst end portion 405 a and the second end portion 405 b of theconductive film 404 are connected can be used as a switching means. Thespecific example will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A to 5Dhereinafter.

A semiconductor device shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D includes at least anelement group 402 provided over a substrate 401, a conductive film 403functioning as an antenna provided above the element group 402, and aconductive film 404 including a first end portion 405 a and a second endportion 405 b, placed so as to surround the conductive film 403, and aconductive film 407 is provided above the conductive film 404 with aninsulating film 406 therebetween (FIGS. 5A and 5B). It is to be notedthat the insulating film 406 may be formed over the entire surface, orformed selectively over a part covering the first end portion 405 a andthe second end portion 405 b of the conductive film 404.

The insulating film 406 can be formed of an insulating film includingoxygen or nitrogen, such as silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride(SiNx), silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) (x>y) or silicon nitride oxide(SiNxOy) (x>y), a film containing carbon, such as DLC (diamond likecarbon), or the like, by using a CVD method, a sputtering method, or thelike. In addition to that, it can be formed as a single layer or alaminated structure of an organic material such as epoxy, polyimide,polyamide, polyvinyl phenol, benzocyclobutene, or acryl, a siloxaneseries material or the like, by a droplet discharging method, a screenprinting method, a spin coating method or the like.

The conductive film 407 can be formed by a sputtering method, a CVDmethod or the like, using a conductive material including one of or aplurality of metals such as copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), silver (Ag),gold (Au), chromium (Cr), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta),tungsten (W) and nickel (Ni), or metal compounds thereof. Furthermore,the conductive film can be formed by a droplet discharging method or aprinting method such as a screen printing method, using a conductivepaste. As the conductive paste, conductive particles of which the sizeis several nm to several dozen μm, dissolved or dispersed in an organicresin can be used. As the conductive particles, metal particles of oneor more of silver (Ag), gold (Au), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), platinum(Pt), palladium (Pd), tantalum (Ta), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti) andthe like, fine particles of silver halide, or dispersible nanoparticlescan be used. In addition, as the organic resin included in theconductive paste, one or more selected from organic resins functioningas a binder of metal particles, a solvent, a dispersing agent and acoating material can be used. As the representatives, organic resinssuch as an epoxy resin and a silicon resin can be given. When forming aconductive film, baking is preferably performed after the paste ispushed out. For example, in the case where fine particles (of which thesize is 1 nm or more and 100 nm or less) containing silver as its maincomponent are used as a material for the paste, a conductive film can beobtained by stiffening the paste by baking at a temperature of 150 to300° C.

In the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 5B, two end portions of theconductive film 404 (the first end portion 405 a and the second endportion 405 b) are not connected. That is, the conductive film 404 isnot provided circularly, so that even when an electromagnetic wave issent from a reader/writer, a current does not flow in the conductivefilm 404 and the communication range of the semiconductor device is notlowered.

On the other hand, by connecting each of the first end portion 405 a andthe second end portion 405 b of the conductive film 404 to theconductive film 407 electrically, the first end portion 405 a and thesecond end portion 405 b are connected via the conductive film 407, andas a result, the conductive film 404 can be regarded as providedcircularly (FIGS. 5C and 5D). In this case, when an electromagnetic waveis sent from a reader/writer (when a change in a magnetic field occurs),by a current generated in the conductive film 404 as described above,the electromagnetic wave is weakened, and the communication range of thesemiconductor device is shortened. Since the attenuation of thecommunication range depends on a shape or a cross-sectional area of theconductive film 404, the communication range can be controlled by apractitioner selecting the shape and the cross-sectional area of theconductive film 404 arbitrarily. For example, it is possible to make thecommunication range zero (a condition in which data of the semiconductordevice cannot be read unless contacting).

As a method for connecting each of the first end portion 405 a and thesecond end portion 405 b to the conductive film 407, laser lightirradiation, a method in which a conductive needle or the like is pushedin physically, or the like can be used. Specifically, in the case ofusing laser light irradiation, a part of the conductive film 407corresponding to the first end portion 405 a and a part of theconductive film 407 corresponding to the second end portion 405 b areselectively irradiated with laser light so that the conductive film 407and the insulating film 406 are melted together in those parts, and eachof the first end portion 405 a and the second end portion 405 b can beelectrically connected to the conductive film 407 (FIG. 5C). On theother hand, in the case of using a method in which a conductive needleis pushed in physically, conductive needles or the like are pushed intoa part of the conductive film 407 corresponding to the first end portion405 a and a part of the conductive film 407 corresponding to the secondend portion 405 b selectively, so as to penetrate the insulating film406 and a part of the conductive film 404, so that each of the first endportion 405 a and the second end portion 405 b can be electricallyconnected to the conductive film 407 (FIG. 5D).

Alternatively, either one of the first end portion 405 a and the secondend portion 405 b of the conductive film 404 may be electricallyconnected to the conductive film 407 beforehand. Even in the case whereonly one of the first end portion 405 a and the second end portion 405 bof the conductive film 404 is electrically connected to the conductivefilm 407, the conductive film 404 is not provided circularly, so thatthere is no effect on the communication range of the semiconductordevice. In this case, the communication range can be lowered just byconnecting one of the first end portion 405 a and the second end portion405 b of the conductive film 404, which is not electrically connected tothe conductive film 407, to the conductive film 407.

The semiconductor device shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D can change thecommunication range from a long condition to a short condition, onlyonce. This is effective when preventing information of the semiconductordevice from being looked at secretly by a third party externally. Forexample, in the case where the semiconductor device is mounted on acommercial product, the communication range needs to be long formanagement, supervision and the like of the product until the productreaches a consumer; however, when the product reaches the consumer, mecommunication range may be shortened so that information of the productis displayed only at the will of the consumer. Therefore, by shorteningthe communication range of the semiconductor device by electricallyconnecting the first end portion 405 a and the second end portion 405 bof the conductive film 404 to each other, as shown in FIGS. 5C and SD,when the consumer purchases the product, information of the product isprevented from being stolen from the outside, and invasion of privacycan be also prevented. Especially, by making the communication rangezero (a condition in which data of the semiconductor device cannot beread unless contacting), information can be limitlessly prevented frombeing looked at secretly by a third party.

Furthermore, in the above-described structure, the number of conductivefilms 404 and the number of switching means 410 may be more than one(FIGS. 4A and 4B). Specifically, a plurality of conductive films 404 areprovided, surrounding the conductive film 403, so that each end portionof the conductive films 404 is connected to the switching means 410. Asthe switching means 410, any of the above-described means can be used.For example, a transistor 410 a is provided for each end portion of theplurality of conductive films 404, and by controlling the plurality oftransistors 410 a, the communication range of the semiconductor devicecan be controlled step by step. Furthermore, in the case of using amethod shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the communication range can becontrolled step by step, not only once but a plurality of times, so thatthe communication range can be changed according to a usage pattern ofthe consumer.

Embodiment Mode 2

In this embodiment mode, a semiconductor device which is different fromone in the above-described embodiment mode will be described, withreference to drawings. Specifically, a method for controlling thecommunication range of a semiconductor device by using a physical meansas a switching means will be described.

A semiconductor device shown in this embodiment mode includes at leastan element group 402 provided over a substrate 401, a conductive film403 functioning as an antenna, provided above the element group 402, anda conductive film 404 to be a dummy pattern placed so as to surround theconductive film 403 (FIG. 6A). The conductive film 403 functioning as anantenna is provided in the shape of a coil, and each end portion of theconductive film 403 is electrically connected to the element group 402.The conductive film 404 is provided circularly (a condition in which theabove-described first end portion 405 a and the second end portion 405 bare connected directly).

In the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 6A, when an electromagneticwave is sent from a reader/writer, the communication range is shorteneddue to the existence of the conductive film 404 provided circularly asdescribed above. However, in the case where a part of the conductivefilm 404 is removed so as to make the conductive film 404 non-circular,the communication range of the semiconductor device can be long, asdescribed above (FIG. 6B). As a means for removing the conductive film404, selective laser light irradiation can be performed. In addition tothe laser light, a method in which the conductive film 404 is cutphysically can be used. The semiconductor device of this embodiment modecan change the communication range from a short condition to a longcondition only once. This, for example, can be used when thesemiconductor device is attached to a substance which cannot be thrownaway easily, such as a dangerous material or an industrial waste, andthe substance is to be managed or supervised.

This embodiment mode can be implemented freely combining with theabove-described Embodiment Mode 1.

Embodiment Mode 3

In this embodiment mode, a semiconductor device which is different fromone in the above-described embodiment mode will be described withreference to drawings. Specifically, a method in which connectionbetween a conductive film functioning as an antenna and an element groupis performed via a switching means will be described.

A semiconductor device shown in this embodiment mode includes at leastan element group 402 provided over a substrate 401, a conductive film403 functioning as an antenna provided above the element group 402, anda conductive film 404 to be a dummy pattern placed so as to surround theconductive film 403 (FIGS. 7A and 7B). In addition, the conductive film403 functioning as an antenna is provided in the shape of a coil, andone end portion 421 of the conductive film 403 is connected to theelement group 402 via a switching means 420.

As a switching means 420, any of the switching means shown in theabove-described Embodiment Mode 1 can be used. For example, in the caseof using a transistor as the switching means 420, the semiconductordevice can communicate with a reader/writer when the transistor isturned on, and the semiconductor device cannot communicate with thereader/writer when the transistor is turned off. This is effective wheninformation of the semiconductor device mounted on a commercial productbecomes unnecessary. On the other hand, as shown in the above-describedFIGS. 5A to 5D, a structure in which the one end portion 421 of theconductive film 403 is connected to the element group 402 by using aphysical means. In this case, information of the semiconductor devicecannot be read without contact before the one end portion 421 of theconductive film 403 is connected to the element group 402, butinformation of the semiconductor device can be read without contactafter they are connected.

Furthermore, in the case where the switching means 420 connecting theone end portion 421 of the conductive film 403 to the element group 402as a switching means is removed, as shown in the above-describedEmbodiment Mode 2, communication between the semiconductor device andthe outside becomes impossible. This is effective when information ofthe semiconductor device mounted on a commercial product becomesunnecessary, when information of the semiconductor device becomesunnecessary in the case shown in the above-described Embodiment Mode 2,or the like.

-   -   This embodiment mode can be implemented freely combining with        the above-described Embodiment Modes 1 and 2.

Embodiment Mode 4

In this embodiment mode, an example of a manufacturing method of asemiconductor device of the invention, which includes a thin filmtransistor and an antenna, will be described with reference to drawings.

First, a peeling layer 702 is formed over the a surface of a substrate701, and an amorphous semiconductor film 704 (a film containingamorphous silicon, for example) is formed over the peeling layer 702,with an insulating film 703 therebetween (FIG. 8A)

As the substrate 701, a glass substrate, a quartz substrate, a metalsubstrate, a stainless steel substrate, a plastic substrate having heatresistance against the treatment temperature of this step, or the likemay be used. With such substrates, an area and a shape thereof are notparticularly restricted; therefore, by using a rectangular substratewith at least one meter on a side as the substrate 701, for example, theproductivity can be drastically improved. Such merit is greatlyadvantageous as compared to the case of using a round silicon substrate.It is to be noted that, the peeling layer 702 is formed over an entiresurface of the substrate 701 in this step; however, the peeling layer702 may be selectively provided as needed by etching using aphotolithography method after the peeling layer is formed over theentire surface of the substrate 701. In addition, the peeling layer 702is formed to be in contact with the substrate 701; however, aninsulating film may be formed as a base film to be in contact with thesubstrate 701 as needed and the peeling layer 702 may be formed to be incontact with the insulating film.

As the peeling layer 702, a metal film, a laminated structure of a metalfilm and a metal oxide film, or the like may be used. The metal film isformed as a single layer or a laminated layer of a film formed of anelement selected from tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti),tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), zirconium (Zr),zinc (Zn), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), osmium (Os),and iridium (Ir), or an alloy material or a compound material containingthe above-described element as its main component. The film can beformed by a sputtering method, various CVD methods such as a plasma CVDmethod or the like, using these materials. As the laminated structure ofa metal film and a metal oxide film, after the above-described metalfilm is formed, an oxide of the metal film can be formed on the metalfilm surface by performing a plasma treatment in an oxygen atmosphere ora heat treatment in an oxygen atmosphere. For example, in the case wherea tungsten film formed by a sputtering method is provided as a metalfilm, a metal oxide film of tungsten oxide can be formed on the tungstenfilm surface by performing a plasma treatment on the tungsten film. Inthis case, an oxide of tungsten is expressed in WOx, and x is 2 to 3.There are cases of x=2 (WO₂), x=2.5 (W₂O₅), x=2.75 (W₄O₁₁), x=3 (WO₃),and the like. When forming an oxide of tungsten, the values of xdescribed above are not particularly restricted, and which oxide is tobe formed may be decided based on an etching rate or the like. Inaddition, it is possible to form an oxide film on the metal film surfaceby performing a plasma treatment in the condition of high density(preferably 1×10¹¹ cm⁻³ or more and 1×10¹³ cm⁻³ or less) using highfrequency (a microwave or the like) and a low electron temperature(preferably 0.5 eV or more and 1.5 eV or less), (hereinafter the plasmain this condition is also referred to as “high-density plasma”).Furthermore, besides a metal oxide film, a metal nitride or a metaloxynitride may be used. In this case, a plasma treatment or a heattreatment is performed on the metal film in a nitrogen atmosphere or anatmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen. As for a condition of the Plasmatreatment, the above-described one may be used.

As the insulating film 703, a single layer or a laminated layer of afilm containing an oxide of silicon or a nitride of silicon is formed bya sputtering method, a plasma CVD method or the like. In the case wherethe base insulating film employs a two-layer structure, a siliconnitride oxide film may be formed as a first layer, and a siliconoxynitride film may be formed as a second layer, for example. In thecase where the base insulating film employs a three-layer structure, asilicon oxide film, a silicon nitride oxide film, and a siliconoxynitride film may be formed as a first insulating film, a secondinsulating film, and a third insulating film, respectively.Alternatively, a silicon oxynitride film, a silicon nitride oxide film,and a silicon oxynitride film may be formed as a first insulating film,a second insulating film, and a third insulating film, respectively. Thebase insulating film functions as a blocking film for preventing theentry of an impurity from the substrate 701.

The amorphous semiconductor film 704 is formed with a thickness of 25 to200 nm (preferably 30 to 150 nm), by a sputtering method, an LPCVDmethod, a plasma CVD method or the like.

Next, the amorphous semiconductor film 704 is crystallized by acrystallization method (a laser crystallization method, a thermalcrystallization method using an RTA or an annealing furnace, a thermalcrystallization method using a metal element for promotingcrystallization, a method in which the laser crystallization method iscombined with the thermal crystallization method using a metal elementfor promoting crystallization, or the like) to form a crystallinesemiconductor film. After that, the obtained crystalline semiconductorfilm is etched so as to have a desired shape, thereby crystallinesemiconductor films 706 to 710 are formed (FIG. 8B).

An example of a manufacturing step of the crystalline semiconductorfilms 706 to 710 will be briefly described hereinafter. First, anamorphous semiconductor film is formed with a thickness of 66 nm by aplasma CVD method. Next, a solution containing nickel that is a metalelement for promoting crystallization is retained on the amorphoussemiconductor film, and a dehydrogenation treatment (at 500° C., for onehour) and a thermal crystallization treatment (at 550° C., for fourhours) are performed on the amorphous semiconductor film, thereby acrystalline semiconductor film is formed. After that, the crystallinesemiconductor film is irradiated with laser light as needed, and aphotolithography method is used to form the crystalline semiconductorfilms 706 to 710.

A continuous wave laser beam (a CW laser beam) or a pulsed wave laserbeam (a pulsed laser beam) may be used. As a laser beam which can beused here, a laser emitted from one or a plurality of the following canbe used: a gas laser such as an Ar laser, a Kr laser or an excimerlaser; a laser of which the medium is single crystalline YAG, YVO₄,forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄), YAlO₃, GdVO₄, or polycrystalline (ceramic) YAG,Y₂O₃, YVO₄, YAIO₃, GdVO₄, each added with one or more of Nd, Yb, Cr, Ti,Ho, Er, Tm and Ta as a dopant; a glass laser; a ruby laser; analexandrite laser; a Ti: sapphire laser; a copper vapor laser; or a goldvapor laser. It is possible to obtain crystals with a large grain sizewhen fundamental waves of such laser beams or second to fourth harmonicsof the fundamental waves are used. For example, the second harmonic (532nm) or the third harmonic (355 nm) of an Nd: YVO₄ laser (fundamentalwave of 1064 nm) can be used. In this case, an energy density of about0.01 to 100 MW/cm² (preferably, 0.1 to 10 MW/cm²) is required. Thescanning rate is set about 10 to 2000 cm/sec to irradiate thesemiconductor film. It is to be noted that, a laser using, as a medium,single crystalline YAG, YVO₄, forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄), YAIO₃, or GdVO₄ orpolycrystalline (ceramic) YAG, Y₂O₃, YVO₄, YAIO₃, or GdVO₄ doped withone or more of Nd, Yb, Cr, Ti, Ho, Er, Tm, and Ta as a dopant; an Ar ionlaser; or a Ti: sapphire laser can be continuously oscillated.Furthermore, pulse oscillation thereof can be performed with anoscillation frequency of 10 MHz or more by carrying out Q switchoperation or mode synchronization. When a laser beam is oscillated withan oscillation frequency of 10 MHz or more, a semiconductor film isirradiated with a next pulse while the semiconductor film is melted bythe laser beam and then is solidified. Therefore, differing from a caseof using a pulsed laser with a low oscillation frequency, a solid-liquidinterface can be continuously moved in the semiconductor film so thatcrystal grains, which continuously grow toward a scanning direction, canbe obtained.

In addition, when the crystallization of the amorphous semiconductorfilm is performed by using the metal element for promotingcrystallization, it is advantageous in that the crystallization can beperformed at a low temperature in a short amount of time, and that thedirection of crystals becomes uniform. On the other hand, there is aproblem that the property is not stable because the off current isincreased due to the remaining metal element in the crystallinesemiconductor film. Therefore, it is preferable to form an amorphoussemiconductor film functioning as a gettering site over the crystallinesemiconductor film. In order to form a gettering site, the amorphoussemiconductor film is required to contain an impurity element such asphosphorus or argon, and therefore, it is preferably formed by asputtering method by which argon can be contained at a highconcentration. After that, a heat treatment (an RTA method, thermalannealing using an annealing furnace, or the like) is performed todiffuse the metal element into the amorphous semiconductor film, and theamorphous semiconductor film containing the metal element is removed. Inthis manner, the contained amount of the metal element in thecrystalline semiconductor film can be reduced or removed.

Next, a gate insulating film 705 covering the crystalline semiconductorfilms 706 to 710 is formed. As the gate insulating film 705, a singlelayer or a laminated layer of a film containing an oxide of silicon or anitride of silicon is formed by a plasma CVD method, a sputteringmethod, or the like. Specifically, a film containing silicon oxide, afilm containing silicon oxynitride, or a film containing silicon nitrideoxide is formed as a single layer or a laminated layer.

Alternatively, the gate insulating film 705 may be formed by performingthe above-described high-density plasma treatment on the crystallinesemiconductor films 706 to 710 to oxidize or nitride the surfaces. Forexample, the film is formed by a plasma treatment introducing a mixedgas of a rare gas such as He, Ar, Kr or Xe and oxygen, nitrogen oxide(NO₂), ammonia, nitrogen, hydrogen or the like. When excitation of theplasma in this case is performed by introduction of a microwave, highdensity plasma with low electron temperature can be generated. By anoxygen radical (there is a case where an OH radical is included) or anitrogen radical (there is a case where an NH radical is included)generated by this high-density plasma, the surface of the semiconductorfilm can be oxidized or nitrided.

By a treatment using such high-density plasma, an insulating film with athickness of 1 to 20 nm, typically 5 to 10 nm, is formed over asemiconductor film. Since the reaction of this case is a solid-phasereaction, an interface state density between the insulating film and thesemiconductor film can be extremely low. Since a high-density plasmatreatment like this oxidizes (or nitrides) a semiconductor film(crystalline silicon, or polycrystalline silicon) directly, unevennessof a thickness of the insulating film to be formed can be extremelysmall, ideally. In addition, oxidation is not strengthened even in agrain boundary of crystalline silicon, which makes a very preferablecondition. That is, by a solid-phase oxidation of the surface of thesemiconductor film by the high-density plasma treatment shown here, aninsulating film with good uniformity and low interface state density canbe formed without causing oxidation reaction abnormally in a grainboundary.

As the gate insulating film, an insulating film formed by thehigh-density plasma treatment may be used by itself, or an insulatingfilm of silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride or the likemay be deposited thereover by a CVD method using plasma or thermalreaction, so as to make a laminated layer. In any case, a transistorincluding an insulating film formed by high-density plasma, in a part ofthe gate insulating film or in the whole gate insulating film, canreduce unevenness of the property.

Next, a first conductive film and a second conductive film are formedlaminated over the gate insulating film 705. The first conductive filmis formed with a thickness of 20 to 100 nm by a plasma CVD method, asputtering method or the like, and the second conductive film is formedwith a thickness of 100 to 400 nm. The first conductive film and thesecond conductive film are formed of an element selected from tantalum(Ta), tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), molybdenum (Mo), aluminum (AI),copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), niobium (Nb) or the like, or an alloymaterial or a compound material containing the above-described elementas its main component. Alternatively, they are formed of a semiconductormaterial represented by polycrystalline silicon doped with an impurityelement such as phosphorus. As examples of a combination of the firstconductive film and the second conductive film, a tantalum nitride (TaN)film and a tungsten (W) film, a tungsten nitride (WN) film and atungsten film, a molybdenum nitride (MoN) film and a molybdenum (Mo)film, and the like can be given. Since tungsten and tantalum nitridehave high heat resistance, a heat treatment for thermal activation canbe performed after the first conductive film and the second conductivefilm are formed. In addition, in the case of a three-layer structureinstead of a two-layer structure, a laminated structure of a molybdenumfilm, an aluminum film and a molybdenum film is preferably adopted.

Next, a resist mask is formed by a photolithography method, and anetching treatment for forming a gate electrode and a gate line isperformed, so that conductive films (also referred to as gateelectrodes) 716 to 725 functioning as gate electrodes are formed.

Next, a resist mask is formed by a photolithography method, and animpurity element giving N-type conductivity is added at lowconcentration to the crystalline semiconductor films 706 and 708 to 710,by an ion doping method or an ion implantation method, so that N-typeimpurity regions 711 and 713 to 715, and channel-forming regions 780 and782 to 784 are formed. As the impurity element giving N-typeconductivity, an element which belongs to Group 15 may be used; forexample, phosphorus (P) and arsenic (As) are used.

Next, a resist mask is formed by a photolithography method, and animpurity element giving P-type conductivity is added to the crystallinesemiconductor film 707, so that a P-type impurity region 712 and achannel-forming region 781 are formed. As the impurity element givingP-type conductivity, boron (B) is used, for example.

Next, an insulating film is formed so as to cover the gate insulatingfilm 705 and the conductive films 716 to 725. The insulating film isformed as a single layer or a laminated layer of a film containing aninorganic material such as silicon, an oxide of silicon, or a nitride ofsilicon, or an organic material such as an organic resin, by a plasmaCVD method, a sputtering method, or the like. Next, the insulating filmis selectively etched by anisotropic etching mainly in a verticaldirection, so that insulating films (also referred to as side walls) 739to 743 which is in contact with the side surfaces of the conductivefilms 716 to 725 are formed (FIG. 8C). Furthermore, simultaneously withthe manufacture of the insulating films 739 to 743, insulating films 734to 738 are formed by etching the gate insulating film 705. Theinsulating films 739 to 743 are used as masks for doping when LDD(Lightly Doped drain) regions are formed later.

Next, using a resist mask formed by a photolithography method and theinsulating films 739 to 743 as masks, an impurity element giving N-typeconductivity is added to the crystalline semiconductor films 706 and 708to 710, so that first N-type impurity regions (also referred to as LDDregions) 727, 729, 731 and 733, and second N-type impurity regions 726,728, 730 and 732 are formed. Concentration of an impurity elementcontained in the first N-type impurity regions 727, 729, 731 and 733 islower than concentration of an impurity element contained in the secondN-type impurity regions 726, 728, 730 and 732. Through theabove-described steps, N-type thin film transistors 744 and 746 to 748and a P-type thin film transistor 745 are completed.

For forming an LDD region, there is a method using the insulating filmthat is a side wall as a mask. By using the insulating film that is aside wall as a mask, control of the width of the LDD region is easy, andthe LDD region can be formed surely.

Subsequently, an insulating film is formed as a single layer or alaminated layer so as to cover the thin film transistors 744 to 748(FIG. 9A). The insulating film covering the thin film transistors 744 to748 is formed as a single layer or a laminated layer using an inorganicmaterial such as an oxide of silicon or a nitride of silicon, an organicmaterial such as polyimide, polyamide, benzocyclobutene, acrylic, epoxyor siloxane, or the like, by an SOG method, a droplet dischargingmethod, or the like. A siloxane-based material is, for example, asubstance including a skeleton of a bond of silicon and oxygen andincluding at least hydrogen as a substituent, or a substance including askeleton of a bond of silicon and oxygen and at least one of fluoride,an alkyl group, aromatic carbon hydride as a substituent. For example,in the case where the insulating film covering the thin film transistors744 to 748 has a three-layer structure, a film containing silicon oxideis formed as a first-layer insulating film 749, a film containing aresin is formed as a second-layer insulating film 750, and a filmcontaining silicon nitride is formed as a third-layer insulating film751.

It is to be noted that before the insulating films 749 to 751 are formedor after one or more of thin films of the insulating films 749 to 751are formed, a heat treatment for recovering the crystallinity of thesemiconductor film, for activating the impurity element which has beenadded into the semiconductor film, or for hydrogenating thesemiconductor film is preferably performed. For the heat treatment, athermal annealing method, a laser annealing method, an RTA method, orthe like is preferably adopted.

Next, the insulating films 749 to 751 are etched by a photolithographymethod, thereby contact holes are formed to expose the N-type impurityregions 726 and 728 to 732 and the P-type impurity region 785.Subsequently, a conductive film is formed so as to fill the contactholes and patterned to form conductive films 752 to 761 each functioningas a source wiring or a drain wiring.

The conductive films 752 to 761 are formed as a single layer or alaminated layer using an element selected from titanium (Ti), aluminum(Al), and neodymium (Nd), or an alloy material or a compound materialcontaining the above-described element as its main component by a plasmaCVD method, a sputtering method, or the like. An alloy materialcontaining aluminum as its main component corresponds to a materialcontaining nickel whose main component is aluminum or an alloy materialcontaining nickel and one or both of carbon and silicon whose maincomponent is aluminum, for example. Each of the conductive films 752 to761 preferably employs, for example, a laminated layer structure of abarrier film, an aluminum-silicon (Al—Si) film, and a barrier film, or alaminated layer structure of a barrier film, an aluminum-silicon (Al—Si)film, a titanium nitride (TiN) film and a barrier film. It is to benoted that a barrier film corresponds to a thin film formed by usingtitanium, a nitride of titanium, molybdenum, or a nitride of molybdenum.Aluminum and aluminum-silicon which have low resistance and areinexpensive are optimal materials for forming the conductive films 752to 761. In addition, generation of a hillock of aluminum oraluminum-silicon can be prevented when upper and lower barrier layersare provided. Furthermore, when the barrier film is formed by usingtitanium that is a highly-reducible element, even if a thin naturaloxide film is formed over the crystalline semiconductor film, thenatural oxide film is reduced so that preferable contact with thecrystalline semiconductor film can be obtained.

Next, an insulating film 762 is formed so as to cover the conductivefilms 752 to 761 (FIG. 9B). The insulating film 762 is formed as asingle layer or a laminated layer using an inorganic material or anorganic material by an SOG method, a droplet discharging method, or thelike. The insulating film 762 is preferably formed with a thickness of0.75 to 3 μm.

Subsequently, the insulating film 762 is etched by a photolithographymethod, so that a contact hole to expose the conductive film 752 isformed. Then, a conductive film is formed so as to fill the contacthole. The conductive film is formed by a plasma CVD method, a sputteringmethod, or the like, by using a conductive material. Then, theconductive film is patterned to form a conductive film 765. It is to benoted that the conductive film 765 becomes a connection part with theconductive film functioning as an antenna. Therefore, the conductivefilm 765 is preferably formed as a single layer or a laminated layerusing titanium, or an alloy material or a compound material containingtitanium as its main component. In addition, in the photolithographystep for forming the conductive film 765, it is preferable to performwet etching in order to prevent damage to the thin film transistors 744to 748 in lower layers; hydrogen fluoride (HF) or an ammonia peroxidemixture is preferably used as the etchant.

Next, a conductive film 766 a to 766 d functioning as an antenna, incontact with the conductive film 765 and a conductive film 767functioning as a dummy pattern, are formed (FIG. 10A). The conductivefilm 766 a to 766 d and the conductive film 767 are herein formed byusing a screen printing method. Here, a paste 806 containing silver (Ag)is pushed out through an opening 802, using a squeegee 805, and then aheat treatment at 50 to 350° C. is performed, so that the conductivefilm 766 a to 766 d and the conductive film 767 are formed.

Next, an insulating film 772 functioning as a protective film is formedso as to cover the conductive film 766 a to 766 d functioning as anantenna and the conductive film 767, by an SOG method, a dropletdischarging method or the like (FIG. 10B). The insulating film 772 isformed of a film containing carbon such as DLC (diamond like carbon), afilm containing silicon nitride, a film containing silicon nitrideoxide, or an organic material, and preferably it is formed of an epoxyresin.

Next, the insulating film is etched to form openings 773 and 774 by aphotolithography method or laser light irradiation so as to expose apeeling layer 702 (FIG. 11A).

Next, an element forming layer 791 is peeled from the substrate 701.Peeling of the element forming layer 791 is performed by using physicalforce, after selectively irradiating the element forming layer 791 withlaser light to form the openings 773 and 774 (FIG. 11A). Alternatively,as another method, the peeling may be performed after forming theopenings 773 and 774 to expose the peeling layer 702 and thenintroducing an etchant to remove the peeling layer 702 (FIG. 11B). Asthe etchant, a gas or a liquid containing halogen fluoride or aninterhalogen compound is used; for example, chlorine trifluoride (ClF₃)is used as a gas containing halogen fluoride. Accordingly, the elementforming layer 791 is peeled from the substrate 701. It is to be notedherein that the element forming layer 791 includes an element groupincluding the thin film transistors 744 to 748 and the conductive film766 a to 766 d functioning as an antenna. The peeling layer 702 may bepartially left instead of being removed entirely. By leaving a part ofthe peeling layer 702, consumption of the etchant can be reduced andtime for removing the peeling layer can be shortened. In addition, theelement forming layer 791 can be retained at the substrate 701 evenafter the peeling layer 702 is removed.

It is preferable to reuse the substrate 701 after the element forminglayer 791 is peeled off, in order to reduce the cost. In addition, theinsulating film 772 is formed to prevent the element forming layer 791from scattering after the peeling layer 702 is removed. The elementforming layer 791 which is small, thin, and light, easily scatters afterthe peeling layer 702 is removed, since it is not attached firmly to thesubstrate 701. However, by forming the insulating film 772 over theelement forming layer 791, the element forming layer 791 is weighted andscattering from the substrate 701 can be prevented. In addition, byforming the insulating film 772, the element forming layer 791 which isin itself thin and light is prevented from rolling up by stress or thelike after being peeled from the substrate 701, and the strength thereofcan be ensured to some degree.

Next, one surface of the element forming layer 791 is attached to afirst sheet material 775, and then, the element forming layer 791 iscompletely peeled from the substrate 701 (FIG. 12A). In the case wherethe peeling layer 702 is left partially without being removedcompletely, the element forming layer is peeled from the substrate 701by a physical means. Then, a second sheet material 776 is provided overthe other surface of the element forming layer 791, and one or both of aheat treatment and a pressure treatment are performed to attach thesecond sheet material 776. Simultaneously with or after providing thesecond sheet material 776, the first sheet material 775 is peeled and athird sheet material 777 is provided instead. Then, one or both of aheat treatment and a pressure treatment are performed to attach thethird sheet material 777. Accordingly, a semiconductor device which issealed with the second sheet material 776 and the third sheet material777 is completed (FIG. 12B).

It is to be noted that the sealing may be performed with the first sheetmaterial 775 and the second sheet material 776; however, in the casewhere a sheet material used for peeling the element forming layer 791from the substrate 701 is different from a sheet material used forsealing the element forming layer 791, the element forming layer 791 issealed with the second sheet material 776 and the third sheet material777 as described above. This is effective in the case where a sheetmaterial having low adhesion is desirable to be used as the sheetmaterial 775, such as the case where the first sheet material 775 mayadhere not only to the element forming layer 791 but also to thesubstrate 701 when the element forming layer 791 is peeled from thesubstrate 701.

As the second sheet material 776 and the third sheet material 777 usedfor sealing, a film formed by using polypropylene, polyester, vinyl,polyvinyl fluoride, polyvinyl chloride, or the like, paper of a fibrousmaterial, a laminated film of a base film (polyester, polyamide, aninorganic vapor deposition film, paper, or the like) and an adhesivesynthetic resin film (an acrylic-based synthetic resin, an epoxy-basedsynthetic resin, or the like), or the like can be used. It is to benoted that the above-described film is attached to an object to betreated by performing a heat treatment and a pressure treatment, and thetreatments are performed in the following manner: an adhesive layerwhich is provided on the outermost surface of the film or a layer (notan adhesive layer) which is provided on the outermost layer thereof ismelted by the heat treatment, and then pressure is applied, thereby thefilm is attached. It is to be noted that an adhesive layer may beprovided over a surface of the second sheet material 776 or the thirdsheet material 777, but is not necessarily provided. The adhesive layercorresponds to a layer containing an adhesive such as a heat curableresin, an ultraviolet-curable resin, an epoxy resin-based adhesive or aresin additive. In addition, it is preferable to perform silica coatingto the sheet material used for sealing in order to prevent moisture andthe like from entering inside after the sealing; for example, a sheetmaterial in which an adhesive layer, a film of polyester or the like,and a silica coat are laminated can be used.

It is to be noted that this embodiment mode can be implemented freelycombining with the above-described Embodiment Modes 1 to 3. That is, thematerials and the forming methods described in the above-describedembodiment modes can also be used in this embodiment mode while thematerials and the forming methods described in this embodiment mode canalso be used in the above-described embodiment modes.

Embodiment Mode 5

In this embodiment mode, a method in which thin film transistors (TFTs)used for a memory element (memory), a logic circuit portion such as, adecoder, a selector, a writing circuit, and a reading circuit aremanufactured simultaneously will be described with reference to FIG. 13.It is to be noted that although an n-channel type memory element 3040having a floating gate is taken as an example of the memory elements;and an n-channel type TFT 3041 and a p-channel type TFT 3042 are takenas an example of the logic circuit, in this embodiment mode, an elementgroup included in a memory portion and a logic circuit portion in theinvention is not limited to these. In addition, this manufacturingmethod is an example, and it is not to limit the manufacturing methodover an insulating substrate.

First, base films 3001 and 3002 are formed by using an insulating filmsuch as a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film, or a siliconoxynitride film over a glass substrate 3000. For example, a siliconoxynitride film with a thickness of 10 to 200 nm and a hydrogenatedsilicon oxynitride film with a thickness of 50 to 200 nm are laminatedin this order as the base films 3001 and 3002, respectively.

Island-shaped semiconductor layers 3003 to 3005 are formed of acrystalline semiconductor film obtained by performing a lasercrystallization method or a thermal crystallization method on anamorphous semiconductor film. The island-shaped semiconductor layers3003 to 3005 are formed to have a thickness of 25 to 80 nm. A materialof the crystalline semiconductor film is not particularly restricted,though silicon or a silicon-germanium (SiGe) alloy may be preferablyemployed.

At this time, it is possible to carry out a treatment to provide anoverlap region for getting out charge, to one of a source region or adrain region of the semiconductor layer 3003 of a TFT used for thememory element 3040.

Subsequently, a gate insulating film 3006 is formed so as to cover theisland-shaped semiconductor layers 3003 to 3005. The gate insulatingfilm 3006 is formed of an insulating film containing silicon with athickness of 10 to 80 nm by a plasma CVD method or a sputtering method.In the case of an OTP (One-time programmable) nonvolatile memory, inparticular, writing by hot electron injection and charge storage areimportant, therefore a gate insulating film preferably has a thicknessof 40 to 80 nm which does not easily allow a tunnel current to flow.

Then, a first conductive layer 3007 to 3009 is formed over the gateinsulating film 3006, and removed by etching except a region for afloating gate electrode and a region for a gate electrode of TFTs 3041and 3042.

Next, a second gate insulating film 3010 is formed with a thickness of10 to 80 nm by, using an insulating film containing silicon by a plasmaCVD method or a sputtering method. The second gate insulating film 3010is removed by etching except a region of the memory element 3040.

Subsequently, a second conductive layer 3011 to 3013 is formed. Thelaminated layer in which the first conductive layer 3007, the secondgate insulating film 3010, and the second conductive layer 3011 arelaminated in this order over the substrate (the memory element 3040);the laminated layer in which the first conductive layer 3008 and thesecond conductive layer 3012 are laminated in this order over thesubstrate (the TFT 3041); and the laminated layer in which the firstconductive layer 3009 and the second conductive layer 3013 are laminatedin this order over the substrate (the TFT 3042) are etched at the sametime to form a floating gate electrode and a control gate electrode ofthe memory element, and a gate electrode of the normal TFT.

In this embodiment, the first conductive layer 3007 to 3009 is formed ofTaN with a thickness of 50 to 100 nm, and the second conductive layer3011 to 3013 is formed of W with a thickness of 100 to 300 nm. However,a material of the conductive layer is not particularly restricted, andany element selected from Ta, W, Ti, Mo, Al, and Cu, an alloy materialor a compound material containing such element as its main component maybe employed.

Then, N-type doping is carried out to the TFT used for the memoryelement 3040 to form first impurity regions 3014 and 3015. Next, P-typedoping is carried out to the P-channel type TFT 3042 used for the logiccircuit portion to form second impurity regions 3016 and 3017.Subsequently, in order to form an LDD region of an N-channel type TFT3041 used for the logic circuit portion, N-type doping is carried out sothat third impurity regions 3018 and 3019 are formed. After that,sidewalls 3020 and 3021 are formed, and N-type doping is carried out tothe N-channel type TFT 3041 used for the logic circuit portion so thatfourth impurity regions 3022 and 3023 are formed. Such doping can becarried out by an ion doping method or an ion implantation method.Through the above-described steps, the impurity regions are formed inthe island-shaped semiconductor layers respectively.

Next, the impurity elements added in each of the island-shapedsemiconductor layers are activated. This step is carried out by athermal annealing method using an annealing furnace. Alternatively, alaser annealing method or a rapid thermal annealing method (RTA method)may be adopted. Then, a heat treatment is carried out at 300 to 450° C.for 1 to 12 hours. in an atmosphere containing 3 to 100% of hydrogen tohydrogenate the island-shaped semiconductor layers. As other means forthe hydrogenation, plasma hydrogenation (which uses hydrogen excited byplasma) may be carried out as well.

Next, a first interlayer insulating film 3024 is formed of a siliconoxynitride film with a thickness of 10 to 80 nm nearly equal to the gateinsulating film. Then, a second interlayer insulating film 3025 formedof an organic insulating material such as acrylic is formed thereover.Alternatively, an inorganic material may be used instead of an organicinsulating material for the second interlayer insulating film 3025.Inorganic SiO₂, SiO₂ produced by a plasma CVD method (PCVD-SiO₂), SOG(Spin on Glass; a coated silicon oxide film), or the like is used as theinorganic material. Etching is carried out in order to form a contacthole after forming the two interlayer insulating films.

Then, electrodes 3026 and 3027 for making contact with a source regionand a drain region of the island-shaped semiconductor layer at thememory portion are formed. Similarly, electrodes 3028 to 3030 are formedat the logic circuit portion.

In this manner, a memory portion including an N-channel type memoryelement 3040 including a floating gate, and a logic circuit portionincluding an N-channel type TFT 3041 with an LDD structure and aP-channel type TFT 3042 with a single drain structure, can be formedover the same substrate (FIG. 13).

This embodiment mode can be implemented freely combining with theabove-described Embodiment Modes 1 to 4.

Embodiment Mode 6

In this embodiment mode, a semiconductor device of the invention, ofwhich the structure is different from the above-described embodimentmodes, will be described with reference to drawings. Specifically, amemory element provided in the semiconductor device will be described.

As shown in FIG. 14, a memory portion 7580 includes a memory cell array7560 in which memory elements are formed, and a driver circuit. Thedriver circuit includes a column decoder 7510, a row decoder 7520, areading circuit 7540, a writing circuit 7550, and a selector 7530.

The memory cell array 7560 includes a bit line Bm (m=1 to x), a wordline Wn (n=1 to y), and a memory cell 7570 each at an intersection ofthe bit line and the word line. It is to be noted that the memory cell7570 may be either an active type in which a transistor is connected ora passive type which is constituted only by a passive element. In thecase of a passive type, the memory element portion is formed byproviding a memory element between a conductive film structuring a bitline and a conductive film structuring a word line, in the memory cell7570. In addition, the bit line Bm is controlled by, the selector 7530,and the word line Wn is controlled by the row decoder 7520.

The column decoder 7510 receives an address signal for specifying anarbitrary bit line and supplies a signal to the selector 7530. Theselector 7530 receives the signal of the column decoder 7510 to selectthe specified bit line. The row decoder 7520 receives an address signalfor specifying an arbitrary word line to select the specified word line.According to the above operation, one memory cell 7570 corresponding tothe address signal is selected. The reading circuit 7540 reads dataincluded in the selected memory cell and outputs it. The writing circuit7550 generates a voltage required for writing, and applies the voltageto the selected memory cell, thereby data writing is performed.

Next, a circuit configuration of the memory cell 7570 will be described.In this embodiment mode, description is made on a memory cell includinga memory element 7830 in which a lower electrode and an upper electrodeare provided and a memory material layer is interposed between the pairof electrodes.

The memory cell 7570 shown in FIG. 15A is an active memory cellincluding a transistor 7810 and the memory element 7830. As thetransistor 7810, a thin film transistor can be used, for example. A gateelectrode of the transistor 7810 is connected to a word line Wy. Inaddition, one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of thetransistor 7810 is connected to a bit line Bx while the other thereof isconnected to the memory element 7830. The lower electrode of the memoryelement 7830 is electrically connected to the one of the sourceelectrode and the drain electrode of the transistor 7810. In addition,the upper electrode (corresponds to reference numeral 7820) of thememory element 7830 can be shared between the memory elements, as acommon electrode.

In addition, a configuration as shown in FIG. 15B, in which the memoryelement 7830 is connected to a diode 7840 may be used as well. The diode7840 can adopt a so-called diode connection structure in which one of asource electrode and a drain electrode of a transistor is connected to agate electrode thereof. Furthermore, as the diode 7840, a Schottky diodewhich uses contact between a memory material layer and a lower electrodemay also be used, or a diode formed of a laminated layer of a memorymaterial may also be used.

For the memory material layer, a material of which property or statechanges by electrical action, optical action, thermal action, or thelike can be used. For example, a material of which property or statechanges by dissolution, dielectric breakdown or the like due to Jouleheat so that the upper electrode and the lower electrode can beshort-circuited, may be used. Thus, the thickness of the memory materiallayer may be 5 to 100 nm, and preferably 10 to 60 nm. For such a memorymaterial layer, an inorganic material or an organic material can be usedand it can be formed by an evaporation method, a spin-coating method, adroplet discharging method, or the like.

As the inorganic material, there are silicon oxide, silicon nitride,silicon oxynitride, or the like. Even in the case of such an inorganicmaterial, a dielectric breakdown is caused by controlling a filmthickness thereof, so that the upper electrode and the lower electrodecan be short-circuited.

As the organic material, for example, an aromatic amine based (in otherwords, including a benzene ring-nitrogen bond) compound such as4,4′-bis[N-(1-naphthyl)-N-phenyl-amino]-biphenyl (abbreviated: α-NPD),4,4′-bis[N-(3-methylphenyl)-N-phenyl-amino]-biphenyl (abbreviated: TPD),4,4′4″-tris(N,N-diphenyl-amino)-triphenylamine (abbreviated: TDATA),4,4′4″-tris[N-(3-methylphenyl)-N-phenyl-amino]-triphenylamine(abbreviated: MTDATA), and4,4′-bis(N-(4-(N,N-di-m-tolylamino)phenyl)-N-phenylamino)biphenyl(abbreviated: DNTPD); polyvinylcarbazole (abbreviated: PVK);phthalocyanine (abbreviated: H₂Pc); or a phthalocyanine compound such ascopper phthalocyanine (abbreviated: CuPc) or vanadyl phthalocyanine(abbreviated: VOPc) can be used. These materials have high holetransporting properties.

In addition, as the organic material, for example, a material formedfrom a metal complex or the like having a quinoline skeleton or abenzoquinoline skeleton, such as tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminum(abbreviated: Alq₃), tris(4-methyl-8-quinolinolato)aluminum(abbreviated: Almq₃), bis(10-hydroxybenzo[h]quinolinato)beryllium(abbreviated: BeBq₂), orbis(2-methyl-8-quinolinolato)-4-phenylphenolato-aluminum (abbreviated:BAlq); or a metal complex having a oxazole-based ligand or athiazole-based ligand, such as bis[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazolato]zinc (abbreviated: Zn(BOX)₂) orbis[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazolato]zinc (abbreviated: Zn(BTZ)₂), canalso be used. These materials have high electron transportingproperties.

Furthermore, other than the metal complex, a compound such as2-(4-biphenylyl)-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (abbreviated:PBD); 1,3-bis[5-(p-tert-buthylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]benzene(abbreviated: OXD-7);3-(4-tert-buthylphenyl)-4-phenyl-5-(4-biphenyly)-1,2,4-triazole(abbreviated: TAZ);3-(4-tert-buthylphenyl)-4-(4-ethylphenyl)-5-(4-biphenyly)-1,2,4-triazole(abbreviated: p-EtTAZ); bathophenanthroline (abbreviated: BPhen); orbathocuproin (abbreviated: BCP), or the like can be used.

In addition, the memory material layer may be formed of a single layerstructure or a laminated layer structure. In the case of the laminatedlayer structure, with the material selected above, the laminated layerstructure can be formed. In addition, the above organic material and alight-emitting material may also be laminated. As the light-emittingmaterial, there are4-dicyanomethylene-2-methyl-6-(1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidil-9-enyl)-4H-pyran(abbreviated: DCJT);4-dicianomethylene-2-t-butyl-6-(1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidil-9-enyl)-4H-pyran;periflanthene;2,5-dicyano-1,4-bis(10-methoxy-1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidil-9-enyl)benzene;N,N′-dimethylquinacridone (abbreviated: DMQd); coumarin 6; coumarin545T; tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminum (abbreviated: Alq₃); 9,9′-bianthryl;9,10-diphenylanthracene (abbreviated: DPA);9,10-bis(2-naphthyl)anthracene (abbreviated: DNA);2,5,8,11-tetra-t-butylperylene (abbreviated: TBP), or the like.

Further, a layer in which the above light-emitting material is dispersedmay also be used. In the layer in which the above light-emittingmaterial is dispersed, as a mother material, an anthracene derivativesuch as 9,10-di(2-naphthyl)-2-tent-butylanthracene (abbreviated:t-BuDNA); a carbazole derivative such as 4,4′-bis(N-carbazolyl)biphenyl(abbreviated: CBP); a metal complex such asbis[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)pyridinato]zinc (abbreviated: Znpp₂) orbis[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazolato]zinc (abbreviated: ZnBOX); or thelike can be used. In addition, tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminum(abbreviated: Alq₃); 9,10-bis (2-naphthylanthracene (abbreviated: DNA);bis(2-methyl-8-quinolinolato)-4-phenylphenolato-aluminum (abbreviated:BAlq); or the like can be used.

The glass-transition temperature (Tg) of such an organic material may be50 to 300° C., and preferably 80 to 120° C. in order to change itsproperty by thermal action, or the like.

In addition, a material in which a metal oxide is mixed with the aboveorganic material or light-emitting material may also be used. It is tobe noted that the material mixed with a metal oxide includes a state inwhich the above organic material or light-emitting material and themetal oxide are mixed or a state in which they are laminated.Specifically, it indicates a state which is formed by a co-evaporationmethod using a plurality of evaporation sources. Such a material can becalled an organic-inorganic composite material.

For example, in a case of mixing a material having a high holetransporting property with a metal oxide, a vanadium oxide, a molybdenumoxide, a niobium oxide, a rhenium oxide, a tungsten oxide, a rutheniumoxide, a titanium oxide, a chromium oxide, a zirconium oxide, a hafniumoxide, or a tantalum oxide is preferably used as the metal oxide.

In a case of mixing a material having a high electron transportingproperty with a metal oxide, a lithium oxide, a calcium oxide, a sodiumoxide, a kalium oxide or a magnesium oxide is preferably used as themetal oxide.

Also, for the memory material layer, since a material of which propertyor state changes by electrical action, optical action, thermal action,or the like may be used; a conjugated polymer in which a compound(photoacid generator) generating acidum by absorbing light is added, canalso be used, for example. As the conjugated polymer, one kind ofpolyacetylene, one kind of polyphenylenevinylene, one kind ofpolythiophene, one kind of polyaniline, one kind of polyphenyleneethynylene, or the like can be used. In addition, as the photoacidgenerator, arylsulfonium salt, aryliodonium salt, o-nitrobenzyltosylate,arylsulfonic acid-p-nitrobenzylester, one kind of sulfonylacetophenone,Fe-arene complex PF6 salt, or the like can be used.

Next, an operation when data writing is performed to the active memorycell 7570 as shown in FIG. 15A will be described. It is to be noted thatin this embodiment mode, a value stored in the memory element in aninitial state is “0” and a value stored in the memory element with theproperty changed by electrical action or the lice is “1”. In addition,the resistance is high in the memory element with the initial state andthe resistance is low in the memory element after change.

When writing is performed, the bit line Bm of the m-th column and theword line Wn of the n-th row are selected by the column decoder 7510,the row decoder 7520, and the selector 7530, and the transistor 7810included in the memory cell 7570 in the m-th column and the n-th row isturned on.

Subsequently, from the writing circuit 7550, a predetermined voltage isapplied to the bit line Bm of the m-th column for a predeterminedperiod. For this voltage and period to be applied, such condition thatthe memory element 7830 changes from the initial state to the state inwhich the resistance is low, is employed. The voltage applied to the bitline Bm of the m-th column is transmitted to the lower electrode of thememory element 7830 so that a potential difference occurs between thelower electrode and the upper electrode. Therefore, current flowsthrough the memory element 7830 and there occurs a change in the stateof the memory material layer so that the memory element property ischanged. Then, the value stored in the memory element 7830 is changedfrom “0” to “1”.

Next, an operation of data reading will be described. As shown in FIG.16, the reading circuit 7540 includes a resistor 7900 and a senseamplifier 7910. For performing the data reading, a voltage is appliedbetween the lower electrode and the upper electrode and whether thememory element is the initial state or the state in which the resistanceis low after change is judged. Specifically, data reading can beperformed by a resistance-dividing method.

For example, the case of performing data reading of the memory element7830 in the m-th column and the n-th row among a plurality of the memoryelements 7830 included in the memory cell array 7560, will be described.First, the bit line Bm of the m-th column and the word line Wn of then-th row are selected by the column decoder 7510, the row decoder 7520,and the selector 7530. Therefore, the transistor 7810 included in thememory cell 7570 arranged in the m-th column and the n-th row is turnedon so that the memory element 7830 and the resistor 7900 are connectedin series. As a result of this, a potential at a point P shown in FIG.16 is determined depending on the current characteristic of the memoryelement 7830.

When the potential of the point P in the case where the memory elementis in the initial state is V1 and the potential of the point P in thecase where the memory element is in the low-resistance state afterchange is V2, data stored in the memory element can be read out by usinga reference potential Vref which satisfies V1>Vref>V2. Specifically, inthe case where the memory element is in the initial state, an outputpotential of the sense amplifier 7910 becomes Lo and in the case wherethe memory element is in the low-resistance state, the output potentialof the sense amplifier 7910 becomes Hi.

According to the above-described method, data is read out by a voltagevalue by using the difference of the resistance and resistance divisionof the memory element 7830; however, the data of the memory element 7830may also be read out by a current value. It is to be noted that thereading circuit 7540 of the invention is not limited to the aboveconfiguration, and may have any configuration as long as data stored ina memory element can be read out.

The memory element having such a configuration changes its state from“0” to “1”. The change from the “0” state to the “1” state isirreversible, thus, the memory element is a write-once memory element.Therefore, forgery made by a third party by rewriting information fromoutside can be prevented.

Initial data can be written to such a memory element 7830, and besides,data from the sensor device can be written sequentially. Then, thewritten data can be read. out by wireless communication.

Next, a cross-sectional diagram of a memory element in which a memorycell portion 301 and a driver circuit portion 302 are integrally formedover an insulating substrate 310 is shown (FIG. 17A).

A base film 311 is formed over the insulating substrate 310. In thedriver circuit portion 302, thin film transistors 320 and 321 areprovided over the base film 311, and in the memory cell portion 301, athin film transistor 621 is provided over the base film 311. Each thinfilm transistor is provided with a semiconductor film 312 which isetched into an island-shape, a gate electrode 314 provided with a gateinsulating film therebetween, and an insulator (a so-called side wall)313 provided on side surfaces of the gate electrode. The semiconductorfilm 312 is formed with a thickness of 0.2 μm or less, typically athickness of 40 nm or more and 170 nm or less, and preferably athickness of 50 nm or more and 150 nm or less. Further, an insulatingfilm 316 covering the side wall 313 and the semiconductor film 312, andan electrode 315 which is connected to an impurity region formed in thesemiconductor film 312 are included. The electrode 315 which isconnected to the impurity region can be formed in the following manner:a contact hole is formed in the gate insulating film and the insulatingfilm 316; a conductive film is formed in the contact hole; and theconductive film is selectively etched. As the insulating substrate 310,a glass substrate, a quartz substrate, a substrate formed of silicon, ametal substrate, or the like can be used.

In order to improve the flatness, insulating films 317 and 318 may beprovided. In that case, the insulating film 317 may be formed of anorganic material, and the insulating film 318 may be formed of aninorganic material. In the case where the insulating films 317 and 318are provided, the electrode 315 can be formed in these insulating films317 and 318 so as to be connected to the impurity region through acontact hole.

Furthermore, an insulating film 325 is provided, and a lower electrode327 is formed so as to be connected to the electrode 315. An insulatingfilm 328 provided with an opening so as to cover end portions of thelower electrode 327 and expose the lower electrode 327 is formed. Insidethe opening, a memory material layer 329 is formed and an upperelectrode 330 is formed. In this mariner, the memory element 622including the lower electrode 327, the memory material layer 329, andthe upper electrode 330 can be formed. The memory material layer 329 canbe formed of an organic material or an inorganic material. The lowerelectrode 327 or the upper electrode 330 can be formed of a conductivematerial. For example, a film formed of an element of aluminum (Al),titanium (Ti), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), or silicon (Si), an alloyfilm using the above-described element, or the like can be used.Furthermore, a light-transmitting material such as indium tin oxide(ITO), indium tin oxide containing silicon oxide, or indium oxidecontaining zinc oxide of 2% or more and 20% or less can also be used.

In order to improve flatness further and prevent an impurity elementfrom entering, an insulating film 331 may be formed.

For the insulating film described in this embodiment mode, an inorganicmaterial or an organic material can be used. As the inorganic material,silicon oxide or silicon nitride can be used. As the organic material,polyimide, acrylic, polyamide, polyimidamide, resist orbenzocyclobutene, siloxane, or polysilazane can be used. It is to benoted that a siloxane resin corresponds to a resin containing an Si—O—Sibond. Siloxane includes a skeleton formed by the bond of silicon (Si)and oxygen (O), and an organic group containing at least hydrogen (suchas an alkyl group or aromatic hydrocarbon) is used as a substituent.Alternatively, a fluoro group may be used as the substituent. Furtheralternatively, an organic group containing at least hydrogen, and afluoro group may be used. Polysilazane is formed by using a polymermaterial having the bond of silicon (Si) and nitrogen (N) as a startingmaterial.

FIG. 17B is a cross-sectional diagram of a memory element which isdifferent from FIG. 17A, in which the memory material layer is formedwithin a contact hole 351 of the electrode 315. Similarly to FIG. 17A,the electrode 315 is used as the lower electrode, and the memorymaterial layer 329 and the upper electrode 330 are formed over theelectrode 315 to form the memory element 622. After that, the insulatingfilm 331 is formed. The other configuration is the same as FIG. 17A,thus description thereof is omitted herein.

By forming the memory element in the contact hole 351, miniaturizationof a memory portion can be achieved. Furthermore, since an electrode fora memory is not required, the number of manufacturing steps is reducedand a memory device at low cost can be provided.

This embodiment mode can be implemented freely combining with theabove-described Embodiment Modes 1 to 5.

Embodiment Mode 7

In this embodiment mode, a usage pattern of a semiconductor device ofthe invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 18A to 18C.

A semiconductor device 80 has a function of communicating data withoutcontact, and includes a power supply circuit 81, a clock generationcircuit 82, a data demodulation circuit 83, a data modulation circuit84, a control circuit 85 for controlling other circuits, a memorycircuit 86, and an antenna 87 (FIG. 18A). It is to be noted that thenumber of memory circuits is not limited to one, and a plurality ofmemory circuits may be provided. As the memory circuit, an SRAM, a flashmemory, a ROM, an FeRAM or the like, or a memory having a memory elementportion formed of the organic compound layer described in theabove-described embodiment mode, may be used.

A signal transmitted as an electromagnetic wave from a reader/writer 88is converted into an AC electrical signal in an antenna 87 byelectromagnetic induction. In the Dower supply circuit 81, a powersupply voltage is generated using an AC electrical signal, and the powersupply voltage is supplied to each circuit using a power supply wire. Inthe clock generation circuit 82, various clock signals are generatedbased on an AC signal input from the antenna 87, and the signals aresupplied to the control circuit 85. In the data demodulation circuit 83,an AC electrical signal is demodulated and supplied to the controlcircuit 85. In the control circuit 85, various arithmetic operations areperformed in accordance with the input signals. The memory circuit 86stores programs, data and the like that are used in the control circuit85, and functions as a work area for arithmetic operations. Then, datais transmitted from the control circuit 85 to the data modulationcircuit 84, and load modulation of the antenna 87 can be achieved bymeans of the data transmitted from the data modulation circuit 84. Thereader/writer 88 receives load modulation of the antenna 87 aselectromagnetic waves, thereby reads data.

Alternatively, the semiconductor device may be a type of supplying apower supply voltage to each circuit by an electric wave, withoutmounting a power source (battery), or may be a type of supplying a powersupply voltage to each circuit by an electric wave and a power source(battery), mounting a power source (battery).

A semiconductor device of the present invention has advantages such as:non-contact communication is possible; multiple reading is possible;writing data is possible; and processing into various shapes ispossible; directivity is wide and a wide recognition range is provideddepending on the selected frequency. A semiconductor device of theinvention can be applied to an IC tag which can identify individualinformation of a person or a thing in non-contact wirelesscommunication, a label which can be attached to an article by labelprocessing, a wristband for an event or an amusement, or the like. Inaddition, the semiconductor device may be processed with a resinmaterial and may be directly fixed to a metal obstructing wirelesscommunication. Furthermore, a semiconductor device of the invention canbe utilized for operating a system such as an entering-leavingmanagement system or a checkout system.

Next, one mode of the actual use of the semiconductor device which canexchange data without contact will be described. A reader/writer 3200 isprovided on the side of a portable terminal including a display portion3210, and a semiconductor device 3230 is provided on the side of anarticle 3220 (FIG. 18B). When the reader/writer 3200 is held against thesemiconductor device 3230 included in the article 3220, informationrelating to a product, such as a raw material and a place of origin ofthe article, a test result in each production process, a history ofdistribution process, or further, description of the product isdisplayed in the display portion 3210. In addition, a product 3260 canbe inspected by using a reader/writer 3200 and a semiconductor device3250 provided on the product 3260 when the product 3260 is transportedwith a belt conveyor (FIG. 18C). In this manner, information can beeasily obtained, and high functions and high added values are realizedby utilizing a semiconductor device for a system.

This embodiment mode can be implemented freely combining with theabove-described Embodiment Modes 1 to 6.

Embodiment Mode 8

The application range of a semiconductor device of the invention is sowide that it may be applied to any object in order that the historythereof is revealed without contact and utilized in production,management and the like. For example, the semiconductor device of theinvention may be incorporated in bills, coins, securities, certificates,bearer bonds, containers for packages, books, recording media, personalbelongings, vehicles, foods, clothes, healthcare items, livingware,medicals, and electronic apparatuses. Examples of these objects will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 19A to 19H.

The bills and coins include currency in the market and include a notethat is in currency in a specific area as money (cash voucher), memorialcoins, and the like. The securities include a check, a certificate, apromissory note, and the like (FIG. 19A). The certificates include adriving license, a resident card, and the like (FIG. 19B). The bearerbonds include a stamp, a rice coupon, various gift coupons, and the like(FIG. 19C). The containers for packages include paper for packing a boxlunch or the like, a plastic bottle, and the like (FIG. 19D). The booksinclude a document and the like (FIG. 19E). The recording media includeDVD software, a video tape, and the like (FIG. 19F). The vehiclesinclude a wheeled vehicle such as a bicycle, a vessel, and the like(FIG. 19G). The personal belongings include a bag, glasses, and the like(FIG. 19H). The foods include food items, beverages, and the like. Theclothes include clothing, footwear, and the like. The healthcare itemsinclude a medical device, a health appliance, and the like. Thelivingware includes furniture, a lighting apparatus, and the like. Themedicals include a medicine, an agricultural chemical, and the like. Theelectronic apparatuses include a liquid crystal display device, an ELdisplay device, a television set (a television receiver, a thintelevision receiver), a mobile phone, and the like.

When the semiconductor device described in the above embodiment modes isincorporated in bills, coins, securities, certificates, bearer bonds,and the like, forgery of them can be prevented. When the semiconductordevice described in the above embodiment modes is incorporated incontainers for packages, books, recording media, personal belongings,foods, livingware, electronic apparatuses, and the like, inspectionsystems, rental systems and the like can be performed more efficiently.When the semiconductor device described in the above embodiment modes isincorporated in vehicles, healthcare items, medicals, and the like,forgery and theft of them can be prevented and medicines can beprevented from being consumed in the wrong manner. A semiconductordevice may be attached to the surface of a product or incorporated intoa product. For example, a semiconductor device may be incorporated intothe paper of a book, or an organic resin of a package. If data iswritten (rewritten) by an optical effect afterward, a transparentmaterial is preferably used so that a memory element provided in a chipis irradiated with light. Furthermore, forgery can be effectivelyprevented by using a memory element where data cannot be rewritten.Problems such as privacy after a user purchases a product can be solvedby providing a system for erasing data of a memory element provided in asemiconductor device.

In this manner, when the semiconductor device described in the aboveembodiment modes is incorporated in containers for packages, recordingmedia, personal belongings, foods, clothes, livingware, electronicapparatuses, and the like, inspection system, rental system and the likecan be performed more efficiently. The semiconductor device described inthe above embodiment modes also prevents vehicles from being forged orstolen. In addition, when the semiconductor device described in theabove embodiment modes is implanted into creatures such as animals, eachcreature can be identified easily. For example, when the semiconductordevice described in the above embodiment modes provided with a sensor isimplanted into creatures such as domestic animals, not only the year ofbirth, sex, breed and the like but also the health condition such as thecurrent body temperature can be easily controlled. Furthermore, bycontrolling the communication range of the semiconductor device short,information is prevented from being looked secretly by a third party.

As described above, a semiconductor device of the invention can beincorporated in any object. This embodiment mode can be implementedfreely combining with the above-descried Embodiment Modes 1 to 7.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application serial no.2005-160735 filed in Japan Patent Office on May, 31st, in 2005, theentire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE

80: semiconductor device, 81: power supply circuit, 82: clock generationcircuit, 83: demodulation circuit, 84: modulation circuit, 85: controlcircuit, 86: memory circuit, 87: antenna., 88: reader/writer, 301:memory cell portion, 302: driver circuit portion, 310: insulatingsubstrate, 311: base film, 312: semiconductor film, 313: side wall, 314:gate electrode, 315: electrode, 316: insulating film, 317: insulatingfilm, 318: insulating film, 320: thin film transistor, 325: insulatingfilm, 327: lower electrode, 328: insulating film, 329: memory materiallayer, 330: upper electrode, 331: insulating film, 351: contact hole,401: substrate, 402: element group, 403: conductive film, 404:conductive film, 406: insulating film, 407: conductive film, 409:transistor, 410: switching means, 420: switching means, 421: endportion, 621: thin film transistor, 701: substrate, 702: peeling layer:703: insulating film, 704: amorphous semiconductor film, 705: gateinsulating film, 706: crystalline semiconductor film, 707: crystallinesemiconductor film, 711: N-type impurity region, 712: P-type impurityregion, 716: conductive film, 726: N-type impurity region, 727: N-typeimpurity region, 734: insulating film, 739: insulating film, 744: thinfilm transistor, 745: thin film transistor, 749: insulating film, 750:insulating film, 751: insulating film, 752: conductive film, 762:insulating film, 765: conductive film, 767: conductive film, 772:insulating film: 773: opening, 775: sheet material, 776: sheet material,777: sheet material, 780: channel forming region, 781: channel formingregion: 783: memory element, 785: P-type impurity region, 786:conductive film, 789: memory element portion, 791: element forminglayer, 802: opening, 805: squeegee, 806: paste, 3000: glass substrate,3001: base film, 3002: base film, 3003: semiconductor layer, 3003:semiconductor layer, 3006: gate insulating film, 3007: conductive layer,3010: gate insulating film, 3011: conductive layer, 3014: impurityregion, 3016: impurity region, 3018: impurity region, 3020: side wall,3022: impurity region, 3024: interlayer insulating film, 3025:interlayer insulating film, 3026: electrode, 3028: electrode, 3200:reader/writer, 3210: display portion, 3220: merchandise, 3230:semiconductor device, 3250: semiconductor device, 3260: commercialproduct, 405 a: end portion, 405 b: end portion, 410 a: transistor,7510: column decoder, 7520: row decoder, 7530: selector, 7540: circuit,7550: circuit, 7560: memory cell array, 7570: memory cell, 7580: memoryportion, 766 a: conductive film, 7810: transistor, 7830: memory element,7840: diode, 7900: resistance element, 7910: sense amplifier

1. A semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; an element groupcomprising a plurality of transistors provided in the substrate; a firstconductive film functioning as an antenna above the element group; asecond conductive film having a first end portion and a second endportion, surrounding the first conductive film; and a third conductivefilm covering the first end portion and the second end portion throughan insulating film, wherein the first conductive film is provided in theshape of a coil and each of end portions of the first conductive film isconnected to the element group; and wherein the first end portion andthe second end portion are insulated.
 2. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the plurality of transistors are thin filmtransistors.
 3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, whereinthe element group comprises a nonvolatile memory.
 4. The semiconductordevice according to claim 3, wherein the nonvolatile memory comprises: aplurality of bit lines extended in a first direction and a plurality ofword lines extended in a second direction perpendicular to the firstdirection; a memory cell array comprising a plurality of the memorycells, each of the plurality of the memory cell having a memory element,wherein the memory element comprises an organic compound layer between aconductive layer structuring the bit line and a conductive layerstructuring the word line.
 5. A semiconductor device comprising: asubstrate; an element group comprising a plurality of transistorsprovided in the substrate; a first conductive film functioning as anantenna above the element group; a second conductive film having a firstend portion and a second end portion, surrounding the first conductivefilm; and a third conductive film covering the first end portion and thesecond end portion, through an insulating film, wherein the firstconductive film is provided in the shape of a coil, and each of endportions of the first conductive film is connected to the element group;wherein a communication range is controlled by whether or not the firstend portion and the second end portion are electrically connected. 6.The semiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein the plurality oftransistors are thin film transistors.
 7. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 5, wherein the element group comprises a nonvolatilememory.
 8. The semiconductor device according to claim 7, wherein thenonvolatile memory comprises: a plurality of bit lines extended in afirst direction and a plurality of word lines extended in a seconddirection perpendicular to the first direction; a memory cell arraycomprising a plurality of the memory cells, each of the plurality of thememory cell having a memory element, wherein the memory elementcomprises an organic compound layer between a conductive layerstructuring the bit line and a conductive layer structuring the wordline.
 9. A semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; an elementgroup comprising a plurality of transistors provided in the substrate; afirst conductive film functioning as an antenna above the element group;a second conductive film having a first end portion and a second endportion, surrounding the first conductive film; and a third conductivefilm covering the first end portion and the second end portion, throughan insulating film, wherein the first conductive film is provided in theshape of a coil; and wherein the third conductive film is electricallyconnected to one of the first end portion and the second end portion,and is not electrically connected to another one of the first endportion and the second end portion.
 10. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 9, wherein the plurality of transistors are thin filmtransistors.
 11. The semiconductor device according to claim 9, whereinthe element group comprises a nonvolatile memory.
 12. The semiconductordevice according to claim 11, wherein the nonvolatile memory comprises:a plurality of bit lines extended in a first direction and a pluralityof word lines extended in a second direction perpendicular to the firstdirection; a memory cell array comprising a plurality of the memorycells, each of the plurality of the memory cell having a memory element,wherein the memory element comprises an organic compound layer between aconductive layer structuring the bit line and a conductive layerstructuring the word line.
 13. A semiconductor device comprising: asubstrate; an element group comprising a plurality of transistorsprovided in the substrate; a first conductive film functioning as anantenna above the element group; a second conductive film having a firstend portion and a second end portion, surrounding the first conductivefilm; and a third conductive film covering the first end portion and thesecond end portion, through an insulating film, wherein the firstconductive film is provided in the shape of a coil; and wherein acommunication range is controlled by electrically connecting the firstend portion and the second end portion to the third conductive film. 14.The semiconductor device according to claim 13, wherein the plurality oftransistors are thin film transistors.
 15. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 13, wherein the element group comprises a nonvolatilememory.
 16. The semiconductor device according to claim 15, wherein thenonvolatile memory comprises: a plurality of bit lines extended in afirst direction and a plurality of word lines extended in a seconddirection perpendicular to the first direction; a memory cell arraycomprising a plurality of the memory cells, each of the plurality of thememory cell having a memory element, wherein the memory elementcomprises an organic compound layer between a conductive layerstructuring the bit line and a conductive layer structuring the wordline.
 17. A semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; an elementgroup having a plurality of transistors provided in the substrate; and afirst conductive film functioning as an antenna above the element group;and a second conductive film which is circularly placed so as tosurround the first conductive film, wherein the first conductive film isprovided in the shape of a coil; and wherein a communication range iscontrolled by removing a part of the second conductive film.
 18. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 17, wherein the plurality oftransistors are thin film transistors.
 19. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 17, wherein the element group comprises a nonvolatilememory.
 20. The semiconductor device according to claim 19, wherein thenonvolatile memory comprises: a plurality of bit lines extended in afirst direction and a plurality of word lines extended in a seconddirection perpendicular to the first direction; a memory cell arraycomprising a plurality of the memory cells, each of the plurality of thememory cell having a memory element, wherein the memory elementcomprises an organic compound layer between a conductive layerstructuring the bit line and a conductive layer structuring the wordline.
 21. A semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; an elementgroup having a plurality of transistors provided over the substrate; anda first conductive film functioning as an antenna above the elementgroup; and a second conductive film having a first end portion and asecond end portion, and surrounding the first conductive film, whereinthe first conductive film is provided in the shape of a coil; andwherein the first end portion and the second end portion are connectedthrough any one of the plurality of transistors so that the secondconductive film is provided circularly.
 22. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 21, wherein the plurality of transistors are thinfilm transistors.
 23. The semiconductor device according to claim 21,wherein either one of the first end portion and the second end portionis connected to a source region of any one of the plurality oftransistors, and the other one is connected to the drain region.
 24. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 21, wherein the element groupcomprises a nonvolatile memory.
 25. The semiconductor device accordingto claim 24, wherein the nonvolatile memory comprises: a plurality ofbit lines extended in a first direction and a plurality of word linesextended in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; amemory cell array comprising a plurality of the memory cells, each ofthe plurality of the memory cell having a memory element, wherein thememory element comprises an organic compound layer between a conductivelayer structuring the bit line and a conductive layer structuring theword line.
 26. A semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; anelement group comprising a plurality of transistors provided in thesubstrate; and a first conductive film functioning as an antenna abovethe element group; and a plurality of second conductive films having afirst end portion and a second end portion, and surrounding the firstconductive film, wherein the first conductive film is provided in theshape of a coil; and wherein each of the plurality of second conductivefilms the first end portion and the second end portion are connectedthrough any one of the plurality of transistors so that each of theplurality of second conductive films is provided circularly.
 27. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 26, wherein the plurality oftransistors are thin film transistors.
 28. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 26, wherein either one of the first end portion andthe second end portion is connected to a source region of any one of theplurality of transistors, and the other one is connected to the drainregion.
 29. The semiconductor device according to claim 26, wherein theelement group comprises a nonvolatile memory.
 30. The semiconductordevice according to claim 29, wherein the nonvolatile memory comprises:a plurality of bit lines extended in a first direction and a pluralityof word lines extended in a second direction perpendicular to the firstdirection; a memory cell array comprising a plurality of the memorycells, each of the plurality of the memory cell having a memory element,wherein the memory element comprises an organic compound layer between aconductive layer structuring the bit line and a conductive layerstructuring the word line.